Marsh Power Rankings (Week 8)

[David Marsh]

So this week there were a lot of teams out for a bye week and really we can confirm things we have been seeing on the field. This conference feels really split this year between a strong top and a really bad bottom. 

 

12. Colorado (1-6) - Colorado may have their next head coach in Mike Sanford as they are playing with a lot of heart right now. But they are still bad and are going to need a good recruiting class and a solid off-season to rebuild. Are they they worst team in the Conference? Well we get to find out that question this week when they play Arizona State. 

 

11. Arizona State (2-5) - Arizona State lost to a Stanford team that didn't score a touchdown. Let that set in for a moment, Stanford beat them by kicking five field goals. They came within inches of winning that game but couldn't do it. This team is like Colorado, they are a fighter but they will need an off-season to rebuild. 

 

10. Cal (3-4) - Cal is bad... real bad. Cal lost to Washington in their own house and Washington is a team that doesn't travel well. It was an awful game to watch, as Washington doesn't have a defense and Cal doesn't have an offense. Also Cal's stadium was so quiet that you could easily sit and read a book without being distracted. The most problematic problem about Cal right now is that they are not improving from week to week. 

 

9. Stanford (3-4) - Stanford just got their first conference win in the last ten games and they didn't score a touchdown. This team is still not good and in truth the bottom four of this conference are all looking awful right now. Stanford gets the top spot in this bottom four only because they are actually improving. 

 

8. Arizona (3-4) - Arizona was on a bye week so not much to say about them. They have been improving and it will be interesting to see how they do coming out of their bye week. They do get USC next week so it will be interesting to see how well they do, I do expect USC to put quite a few points on them. 

 

7. Washington (6-2) - Now we reach the solid middle of the conference. Washington is an ok team. They are all offense and little defense and as they beat Arizona they should be ranked higher. But isn't if funny that Washington went from a team with all defense and no offense under Jimmy Lake and now they are just the opposite. 

 

6. Washington State (4-3) - Washington State has lost three games so it feels a little weird that they are ranked above Washington. They are ranked higher simply because they have a solid offense, like Washington, but they have a more aggressive defense that may be the difference maker when those two teams play against each other. 

 

5. Oregon State (6-2) - Oregon State is going bowling for the second year in a row as they dismantled and embarrassed Colorado at home. The Beavers probably have the best defense in the conference at this point and they have a solid rushing attack. But their quarterback play is still problematic even though they seem to have that position settled for the time being. It would be great to see the Beavers get themselves ranked by the time they play Oregon but that feels unlikely. 

 

4. USC (6-1) - USC was on a bye week so I'm not moving them. They have incredible skill positions and a very good quarterback but they are still weak on the lines and that will probably be their downfall against UCLA. Does this USC team deserve to be moved up? Probably, but that is more dependent on Utah right now than anything else. 

 

3. Utah (5-2) - Utah beat USC and was on a bye week this last week so I'm not moving them from their previous spot. This is not the same Utah team that owned the conference last year but this is still a good football team. 

 

2. UCLA (6-1) - UCLA is still a very good team and right now I feel they will probably grab the second spot for the Pac-12 Championship game. They have a far better defense than USC which will be key in their shootout with USC. 

 

1. Oregon (6-1) - Oregon is the most dominant team in the conference. This offense cannot be stopped or even slowed as they have scored more than 40 points in the past six games and that won't be slowing down this week when they head to Cal. Beating UCLA was a big big win and a much needed win for Oregon's reputation and even the Pac-12's reputation. Oregon will probably be the first team to lock in a spot to the Pac-12 Championship game. 

[David Marsh]

Just for fun here are ScoopDuck's Power rankings for this week. 

 

Week Eight: Pac-12 Power Rankings - On3

WWW.ON3.COM

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A new 'progrum' is atop the ScoopDuck Pac-12 power rankings this week. Dan Lanning's big win vaults the Ducks ahead of the Bruins.

 

They look strangely familiar...as they are the exact same as mine. But I did publish mine first so that means something right? 

[Charles Fischer]

You did not get any response because we all agreed with your rankings, and now the "experts" at ScoopDuck do as well.  You would be surprised at the articles written on other sites after the topic was published at FishDuck first.  A high complement to you David, and well deserved.